The Eastern Depot Needs Talent Like You
When that semi-transparent blood shadow ca flying out, Chu Tianxing imdiately jumped like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. His hair stood on end as he kicked off with both feet and shot away at an angle like an arrow released from its bowstring.
But even though he reacted quickly, that translucent blood shadow had already locked onto his scent. It made a sharp turn in mid-air and relentlessly hounded him with single-minded pursuit.
Chu Tianxing gave it everything he had, moving like a serpent and tumbling like a raccoon, darting and leaping through the forest at breakneck speed. But no matter what he did, he couldn't shake off the blood shadow's pursuit.
Just as the blood shadow was about to pounce on him, Gu Dongcang suddenly pulled sothing from his coat and hurled it at the shadowy figure.
It was an ancient, cracked turtle shell covered with intricate black and white dots and straight line patterns etched into its surface.
The mont the turtle shell appeared, the blood shadow reacted like a mouse spotting a cat. Its entire form shuddered violently, and it imdiately abandoned its attack on Chu Tianxing, trying to turn tail and flee.
But it was already too late.
The cracked turtle shell simply spun once, and an invisible suction force locked onto the blood shadow. Like a whale gulping down seawater, it sucked the shadow right into the shell.
At the exact mont the blood shadow was absorbed into the turtle shell, Chu Tianxing faintly heard a piercing wail filled with unwillingness and venomous resentnt.
The turtle shell cracked with a sharp pop, splitting open with a long fissure that made its already ancient and damaged appearance even more decrepit.
Gu Dongcang raised his hand and recalled the turtle shell and checked on Chu Tianxing. "Are you alright?"
Chu Tianxing took a long breath and wiped away the sweat covering his forehead. "Thank you. If you hadn't intervened in ti, that damn thing would've possessed for sure."
Gu Dongcang smiled slightly. "It's my duty, no need to thank . Besides, you didn't give up and kept fighting to save yourself. Otherwise, you might not have lasted until I could make my move."
Chu Tianxing said earnestly, "This might just be part of your job to you, but for , it was a matter of life and death. No matter what, I have to thank you."
He glanced at Feng Yufei's corpse lying on the ground. The top of his skull had been blown open with a gaping hole and he had long since stopped breathing. "That thing just now... was it a ghost? Did a ghost possess this guy?"
"A ghost?"
Gu Dongcang shook his head gently.
"No, there are no ghosts, at least not in our world. That thing was far more dangerous and terrifying than any ghost from spooky stories. If we hadn't discovered it before it had truly matured, and if I didn't have this treasure..."
He glanced at the cracked turtle shell in his hand. "I wouldn't have been able to deal with that evil entity as well."
Chu Tianxing asked curiously, "Is this turtle shell so kind of legendary magical artifact? Like the ones in Journey to the West or Investiture of the Gods?"
This world had a Journey to the West and Investiture of the Gods.
Among the four great classics from his original world, this new world was only missing Dream of the Red Chamber.
The other three—Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, and Water Margin—were all in circulation and were all major IPs.
There are many fanfics of those stories on the Huangkong Net. There are also plenty of adaptations circulated worldwide.
Investiture of the Gods was a notch below these three great novels, but it was still widely known with many readers and related film adaptations.
So people were pretty familiar with the concept of magical artifacts.
"Magical artifacts?" Gu Dongcang chuckled. "This turtle shell isn't like those immortal treasures from Journey to the West or Investiture of the Gods. It's just an unusual item that happens to have so restraining power against those blood shadow entities. This shell would just be an ordinary antique if it weren't for encountering that kind of evil thing."
Chu Tianxing really wanted to ask more about what exactly those "blood shadow entities" were, but Gu Dongcang didn't give him a chance to probe further.
Instead, he turned the question back on him.
"Little brother, you've got so talent. That intuition of yours is as rare as phoenix feathers even among True Qi Realm martial artists. Our Eastern Depot really needs people like you. What do you say? Any interest in working for the Eastern Depot? The benefits and treatnt are excellent!"
It wasn't unusual for young martial arts prodigies to officially start internships and jobs with the Embroidered Uniform Guard or Eastern Depot, so Gu Dongcang's recruitnt attempt wasn't strange.
Even though Gu Dongcang found it a bit odd that Chu Tianxing had yet to cultivate internal force at his age, Gu Dongcang estimated that Chu Tianxing’s talent wasn’t too bad. Combined with that intuition of his, the Eastern Depot might have a new “seed” for the True Qi Realm in just a few years.
And not just any candidate, it was one with combat abilities far exceeding his peers.
Chu Tianxing thought for a mont, then asked, "Do you guys at the Eastern Depot have those... you know, those..."
He gestured with his hands, putting on an arrogant expression and speaking in a disdainful tone: "'You want an imperial edict? Co, I write you one right here on the spot... Do you have any tyrannical eunuchs like that?"
"..."
The corner of Gu Dongcang's mouth twitched slightly and he looked at him strangely.
"Little brother, do you have so kind of misunderstanding about our Eastern Depot? Even during the Tianqi Emperor's reign, when Wei Zhongxian was running Eastern Depot affairs and the organization was at the height of its power, we never had the kind of tyrannical eunuchs you're describing...”
"The eunuchs who supervised the Eastern Depot back then were, at the end of the day, just the emperor's servants. They only held power because they had the emperor's favor, and without that favor, they were nothing. How would they dare to insult imperial authority like that?”
"And the modern Eastern Depot has long since severed ties with the royal family. We're now a special departnt responsible for holand security, counterintelligence, counter-terrorism, specifically dealing with unusual dangers, and protecting the lives and property of the Great Ming people... You should be able to look all this up online, right?"
Chu Tianxing gave an awkward laugh. "Ah, well, I was just saying... ahem... Um, I just graduated from high school and I want to go to university to study hard and continue my education... So for now, I don't really want to start working yet..."
"I see!" Gu Dongcang thought for a mont, then pulled out a business card and handed it to Chu Tianxing. "Well, whenever you're ready to start working, just give a call. I can introduce you to the Eastern Depot anyti. Also..."
He took out a small porcelain bottle and handed it to Chu Tianxing.
"For you to have not yet cultivated internal energy at your age, you must not have put much effort into your martial arts practice in the past, right? But I can see you've got decent footwork, so you must have put in so serious effort. I take it you've now recognized the charm of martial arts and have decided to make up for lost ti?”
"It's never too late to nd the fold. You're only around eighteen, it’s not too late. This is a bottle of Body-Strengthening Pills that nourish vital energy and enhance physical constitution. They'll be very helpful for your training.”
"Don't refuse. Getting you mixed up in Feng Yufei's situation and nearly letting that evil entity possess you was a failure on my part. These pills are both my compensation and an investnt in you."
Since he put it that way, Chu Tianxing couldn't very well refuse. He accepted the business card and the bottle of Body-Strengthening Pills while silently pondering.
Not only did Feng Yufei think highly of , but even an expert from the Eastern Depot like Gu Dongcang thinks so highly of .. This intuition talent really does seem to have potential. Co to think of it, I don't think I had this ability before. Could it be so kind of cheat ability I gained after crossing over?
While he was mulling this over, Gu Dongcang said, "Next, I need to call people to handle Feng Yufei's body. If you have nothing else going on, you should head out first. By the way, can you tell your na?"
"I'm Chu Tianxing," he said his goodbyes and left after giving his na and once again thanking Gu Dongcang for saving his life and giving him the pills.
Once he was out of the park, he didn't wander around outside. He hailed a taxi and went straight ho.
"This world is really dangerous... I thought the Great Ming had a million Embroidered Uniform Guards keeping lawbreakers in check and that public security was second to none. Who would've thought that beneath this peaceful facade, there would still be such bizarre and sinister things like that 'blood shadow evil entity'..."
"I wasn't even looking for trouble today. I was just going to the park to exercise like any other normal person, but I nearly died. Where am I supposed to go to complain about that?
"No, I have to stay cooped up at ho and lie low to develop my strength for a while. Fortunately, I can get stronger just by writing books, so staying ho won't delay my cultivation. In short, until I've cultivated internal energy and learned so real combat techniques, I can't go out so casually anymore!"
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